5-2 Diet Fast Menu – Soup, Glorious Celery Soup…

Soup, Glorious Soup – 5-2 diet fast made easy with Celery Soup:

I’m still doing the 5-2 diet, despite all apparent appearances to the contrary. Some weeks I find I don’t have 2 days when I can fast, but I try to balance that out on the weeks when I am less busy. And I am slowly losing weight.

Soup is my mainstay for lunch and part of that is because I am still convinced by some research shown on the BBC a few years ago. The theory is that food in ‘liquid’ format will help you stay feeling fuller for longer. Here’s a link to the original article

Celery soup is one of the most basic soup recipes. If you don’t add in the creme fraiche it’s only 35 calories or so for a bowlful! You can add in extra vegetables – I’ve tried celery and spinach which is a lovely deep green mixture. In my recipe I’ve used a small potato to thicken the mixture, but you could use a little rice (25g dried weight) or pearl barley if you prefer. My choice of potato is determined by flavour and texture. I don’t find rice adds much flavour. Pearl barley will add a slightly nutty taste and the consistency will be a little ‘glueyer’ due to the starch levels. You could even add in cannelli beans if you want.

Directions

Spray a heavy duty pan with 1-cal spray. Add the onion and soften over a moderate heat till translucent.

Step 2

Add the celery and potato and cook for 2-3 minutes

Step 3

Add the water and stock and bring to a gentle boil. Cook for 15 -20 minutes till the celery and potato is soft.

Step 4

Blitz with a stick blender or process through a food processor.

Step 5

Check seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a teaspoon of creme fraiche stirred through each bowl.

Some people like their soup to have ‘bits’ in it. If that’s you, simply take out a large spoonful of chopped veg before you blitz the soup and return it to the pan once you are ready to serve. And, you can of course add in other veg, though be warned if you put carrots in before you blitz the mixture the colour will be a bit dubious! The nutritional analysis is without the creme fraiche which will add 15 calories per teaspoon.

Anyway, this particular soup is one I made earlier (in true Blue Peter style). Tomorrow is another fast day and I have planned to make spicy tomato and lentil soup for lunch. I am expecting a veg and fruit box tomorrow so I don’t want to plan what I will eat in the evening though it will almost certainly be based on white fish or a chicken breast. One of the reasons the 5-2 diet and fast day planning works for me is because there’s a lot of flexibility in what and how you eat, so long as you keep to under 500 calories for a woman or under 600 for a man.

If you haven’t yet tried the 5-2 diet and would like to know more about it, please check out my 5-2 diet tips and leave a message on this post so I can link you to some of the excellent facebook support groups (all free). There are a whole collection of recipes on London-Unattached, but do remember, I am not a recipe developer, these are simply the dishes I make for my own consumption.

Meanwhile, if you want to try for yourself – why not pin this post for later

Really enjoying the soup ideas. I love that you include all the 5:2 details, & detailed calorie content. Best of all..they seem simple and quick to make and I dont needto buy a fancy gadget ! Will be making my own very soon. Thank you

Hi,
I’ve just made this soup and it’s very good. Instead of a stock cube I used umami paste for flavour. I have to say that it makes 2 (Janet) portions, rather than 4, which still leaves it under 100 calories so that’s just fine as I aim for an under 100 calorie lunch.
Great blog.

I guess it depends on how hungry you are – 900ml of water plus the water content of the celery should make a litre of soup – a good size bowl is around 250-300ml, but I can quite happily have two bowlfuls too at lunch time.

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